The Great British Pubco Scam. Pubs are closing all over Britain yet pubs are places that most people love and think fondly of as some of the most significant, treasured, iconic parts of our culture, places to be cherished, nurtured and looked after. Yet they're closing everywhere... WHY? It doesn't make sense does it? Read on...
A bit about me. And a bit about them. And some photographs...

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Friday, October 17, 2014

It is frankly difficult to understand how local councillors can be so ignorant and blinkered to what is happening right on their doorstep. You don't have to live locally to be able to tell the story of this pub as if it were being read from a book - because precisely the same thing is happening to pubs all over the country and it is called the Great British Pubco Scam: Public Houses are simply being asset stripped in plain sight of the British communities by short term private equity driven corporations posing as 'pub companies' who are absolutely nothing of the sort. It isn't complicated, IF these genuinely were 'pub companies' they would be investing in pubs, reinvigorating pubs, making pubs fit for contemporary purpose not flogging them off, or 'divesting' them at the rate of two thousand pubs a year.

Photo Dorset Echo

People stopped going to this pub not because they don't want a local pub but because it was not fit for purpose. The pub was not invested in over a couple of decades and it became chronically run down, dilapidated and unattractive to customers. THAT is why people stopped using it -

It's most likely that a pubco like Punch Taverns, Enterprise Inns or any one of many others owned the pub and leased it to a succession of publicans under a tied lease which extracted all the profit from the premises, leaving the business to fail, again and again until it would be no longer economically viable and it was sold to a private developer.

Whatever - clearly if this pub were refurbished well and stocked good, local and regional ales and produce - and it were well run, suddenly you wouldn't have an eyesore in the village you'd have a vibrant, thriving community hub.

It's a terrible shame that so few people in positions of authority have the vision to support local people who care and campaign for their community amenities and assets that pubs really are.

J Mark Dodds

I’m one of the Pub Persuaders, one of the Pub Professionals, one of the People who knows what’s going on – in PUBS that is - and this blog is about pubs, why they are so important to people and why they must be preserved, reinvigorated, enhanced and remade fit for purpose for the 21st century and beyond and how they must be made sustainable so that future generations can enjoy and learn from the rich seams of knowledge that can be found on everyone’s doorstep in every humble pub – until it’s closed forever – until it’s too late and people say ‘what happened to our pub? We really NEEDED that pub!’
I’m a publican, parent and photographer with a lot of food and drink experience in some of the busiest restaurants and clubs in Britain. Since long before 2008 (when I co-founded the Fair Pint Campaign) I’ve been a pro pubs, people and places person at the forefront of the national conversation about why pubs are closing… everywhere.
I love good pubs, my kids love good pubs, all my friends love good pubs – everyone loves good pubs and I’m determined to make sure good pubs remain part of everybody’s experience - of growing up in the UK and of visiting this country.